


You'll Be Gone By Morning

by Qupid



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Family Dynamics, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, but i figured i should cover all of my bases, suicide is only slightly implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:28:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28113900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qupid/pseuds/Qupid
Summary: Grief is always difficult.  Phil learns that sometimes it is unavoidable.~~~A quick story from the perspective of Phil if Tommy did actually unalive himself.  Before and after.
Relationships: Dave | Technoblade & Phil Watson, Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Tommyinnit & Wilbur Soot
Comments: 43
Kudos: 326





	You'll Be Gone By Morning

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this at 6am after getting no sleep and I refuse to edit it on principle, so if there are spelling/grammar errors YOU DO NOT SEE IT

Before the Dream SMP, before SMP Earth, back when things were so much simpler, the first thing Phil did as Tommy’s father was to help him grieve. His youngest had spent so many years alone, running from his past, and far too busy just trying to survive to grieve his first family. He was finally safe and in a stable home, finally having the luxury to think about all the things he experienced.

Tommy did not grieve easily.

Like everything he did, Tommy was loud. He had to make himself known, had to be acknowledged in some way. Phil understood it for what it was, making sure the world would never forget what Tommy had lost and never erase the fact that his first family had existed, that they were more than just a memory. It didn’t change the fact that they were gone.

Even though it would take Tommy time to warm up to him and his new brothers, Phil loved Tommy unconditionally and without hesitation from the very start. 

Maybe that’s why he took his sons out for an overnight trip in the forest. 

“Why do we have to stay in this stupid forest overnight? I hate sleeping outside.” Tommy grumbled as he trudged along behind Phil. Phil, who was the only one that knew their destination, walked in front of his three sons. Tommy walked, dragging his feet, only a few steps behind with Wilbur walking beside him. Techno took up the rear, scanning the woods around them, ready to draw his sword if any mobs emerged from the trees behind them. Wilbur and Techno were far less reluctant to be on the surprise trip, having lived with Phil long enough to be used to their father’s antics.

Phil sent Tommy a slight smile over his shoulder, “I told you, it’s the Spirit’s Night.”

“Yeah, I know, but what does that even mean?”

It was a fair question, the Spirit’s Night wasn’t exactly a well known holiday. Phil could feel Wilbur’s curious gaze on his back as well, both boys weren’t exactly from the area around their home, so it was unsurprising that they had never heard of it. Techno either already knew what Spirit’s Night was or he simply didn’t care. “It’s the one night a year that the barrier between the overworld and the void is the thinnest.”

“Why should I care?” Tommy huffed. “Doesn’t make any sense to me.”

“The void is where people go when they die. If you go to places where the barrier between our world and the void is thinnest and celebrate the lives of your dead loved ones, they’ll be able to see how much you still love and care for them even after they’re gone. Sometimes you’ll even feel them close by as they celebrate with you from where they’ve gone.” Phil explained.

“So what? You can see ghosts and shit?” Phil could tell that the comment was meant to be sarcastic, but he knew his youngest son well enough to hear the interest in his voice.

“Something like that, but it only lasts the night. The second the sun rises, the barrier between the overworld and the void snaps back into place, as strong as ever.”

“We’re going to a place where the barrier is thin then, right?” Wilbur said, finally voicing his thoughts.

Phil stopped walking suddenly and turned to face his sons. “We all have at least someone we’ve mourned before. I think that sometimes we need a chance to remember all the things we miss about them.” All three boys stared at their dad with wide eyes. When none of them opened their mouths to speak, Phil gave them a curt nod before continuing his trek through the trees.

Tommy was uncharacteristically silent for the rest of the trip, obviously deep in thought.

The four of them emerged from the woods to find a view from the top of a short cliff of a small plains biome. Even with the sun beginning to set behind them, obscuring the far edges of the plains with dimmed light, the view was incredible. The field was covered in hundreds of flowers of all different varieties from tulips to sunflowers and at the center of it all, a large oak tree, taller than any oak tree Phil had ever seen, towered over everything.

“Come on boys, we’re almost there.” Phil said, and gestured to a steep rocky path leading down into the field. It was a precarious descent and they all had to walk slowly with careful steps to make sure they didn’t slip. By the time they reached the base of the oak tree, it was dark.

Phil pulled some lanterns from his bag and quickly lit them. It wasn’t long until the four of them were comfortably situated at the base of the tree, blankets over their shoulders and baked goods in hand to snack on as they sat. They were quiet for a long time, hardly even moving, just staring into the darkness beyond the light of their lanterns.

“What now?” Techno broke the silence with a sarcastic tone and it felt like Phil could breathe again.

“Now we remember the lives of the people we’ve lost.”

“Oh.” Techno responded. They all fell quiet again.

Phil cleared his throat before the silence could become oppressive. “I’ll start then,” He shifted to get more comfortable, “I want to remember my wife. I miss her everyday, even if I don’t always remember now that I have you lot to help me forget the pain of her passing.”

“The smart fridge?” Wilbur asked suddenly, making Techno and Tommy both burst into laughter.

Phil coughed and his face flushed bright red. “I am never going to live that down am I?”

Wilbur snorted. “You told me my mother was a refrigerator, of course I’m not going to let you live that down!”

“You know I only said that because I didn’t want to tell you that you were adopted and didn’t have a mother.”

“Then why didn’t you say his mom was your actual wife?” Techno drawled.

“I panicked!” By now Tommy was laughing so hard there were tears in his eyes and was clutching his sides like it hurt. “Oh you don’t get to laugh at me after you tried to convince me that your cow was the one to knock over my china cabinet.” Phil leaned over and poked his youngest son in the side.

Tommy’s giggling subsided long enough for him to send Phil an affronted look. “Well it was!”

“Our house doesn’t even have a door large enough for a cow to fit through!”

From then on, it was easy to talk about the people they had lost and all the good times they had with them. Tommy easily joked along with his brothers, but Phil noticed that he never shared anything himself. Still, it was good for the four of them to get out of the house and spend time together, even if it wasn’t as successful as he had hoped.

Eventually, both Wilbur and Techno grew tired and fell asleep curled up next to each other, leaving Phil and Tommy by themselves. Tommy moved from his spot to sit next to Phil, pressing himself as close to his dad’s side as he could. Phil put an arm around his son’s shoulders and leaned comfortably back on the base of the tree.

The two of them were silent for a long time.

“I really miss them.” Tommy spoke so quietly, Phil almost missed it.

“I know.” He whispered in reply. 

Tommy took a shaky breath. “They were my parent’s, you know? And now they’re just- they’re just gone.” His voice broke and Phil’s heart broke along with it.

He hugged Tommy close as his son sobbed, his face pressed into his dad’s chest, staining his shirt with tears. Phil held his son close as he cried and didn’t let the boy go, not even when exhaustion overcame them, not even as the night passed them by until the sun began to peak over the horizon. He liked to think that Tommy’s other parents were there too, holding their son as he grieved them.

~~~

The morning before Spirit’s Night, Phil and Techno woke silently, and through an unspoken agreement, they each packed a bag with warm blankets and pastries before setting off into the nearby forest. They didn’t speak as they walked, shoulder to shoulder the entire way except when the path was too narrow and one of them was forced to lag behind the other. In the trees, Techno would always fall in step behind Phil, but at the rocky path Techno led the way.

Phil probably should have been watching his step, but he couldn’t help but stare at his son’s back. Techno’s distinctive pink hair was much shorter than it used to be and Phil didn’t think he had ever seen his son’s pig ears droop so low. He couldn’t help the ache in his chest at how much he missed the length of his son’s hair from before it was shorn short. When Techno was younger and in a rare mood of craving physical affection, he would sit in front of Phil for hours, letting his dad brush through his hair until it was soft and smooth to the touch. By the time Techno was sixteen, Phil had become a master at braiding hair, but now he no longer had anyone with hair to braid.

He wondered if braiding was anything like sword fighting. A skill that he would never forget, no matter how long he went without practicing. He hoped that the muscle memory of braiding would stay with him. If Techno ever decided to grow out his hair again, Phil wanted to be able to braid it just like he had when Techno was a child.

And how Techno wasn’t a child anymore. Techno was big with broad shoulders and height that towered over Phil. He had grown into his large ears and his uneven teeth had grown out into tusks. There was no mistaking it, Techno’s piglin heritage was incredibly obvious, even from a distance, so unlike how it had been when he was young.

They made it to the large oak tree, still without having spoken a word to each other, and settled in at the base of the tree. Unlike the previous years that they had come, they were early, the sun still high in the afternoon sky. Phil and Techno both dozed, in and out of sleep as they waited for the sun to set.

For the first Spirit’s Night in years, there was no chatter leading up to the sunset.

There wasn’t any for the first few hours of the night either.

Techno was the one to break the silence. “Remember when Tommy found out that Henry was a girl and pregnant?” His voice was rough with disuse. Phil didn’t think his son had spoken a word in days.

“He was always so anxious all throughout the whole ordeal! He loved that calf so much too, probably more than he loved Henry.”

“I don’t believe it.” Techno scoffed in reply.

“What about when Wilbur finally gave in to Tommy’s begging and wrote a song about him?”

“Tommy was so mad when he found out it was all about how bad he smelled.”

Phil laughed. “I swear that boy sulked for weeks.”

“He was terrible at staying mad though. He always ended up missing Wilbur too much to keep ignoring him.”

It was easy to laugh at the past antics of Wilbur and Tommy. There were just so many instances where his sons had acted both dramatic and ridiculous, and as much as their bickering frustrated Phil to no end, they livened up his life in a way that no one else could.

As they talked, Phil and Techno both refused to acknowledge what had brought them here. How Techno had failed them as a brother, even worse, how Phil had failed them as their father. Maybe if they had been there, maybe if they had been more attentive, they could have stopped Wilbur and Tommy from being driven to the brink, but it was far too late now. Nothing could change what had been done.

“I miss them.” Techno said at one point. It was all he was brave enough to say. Still better than Phil, who couldn’t even find the courage to think about it. Tommy and Wilbur were gone and Phil didn’t think he would ever be able to forgive himself.

Just before sunrise, the two of them were too antsy to stay any longer, and they packed everything back up in the light of Phil’s lantern. They hadn’t touched the pastries they packed, unable to stomach even the thought of food. Techno set the pastries out on one of the exposed roots as though it were an offering. Phil couldn’t even look at them.

Phil led the way on the hike back up the rocky path. It was bright enough that he could just make out the ground in front of him without a lantern.

“Phil.” Techno suddenly said, sounding serious. It made the older man stop and look back at his son, but Techno wasn’t looking at him. He was staring out at the field towards the giant oak and Phil turned to see what had him so shaken.

There, at the base of the tree, Phil could just barely make out two figures in the predawn light, sitting in the grass among the flowers. A tall, lanky boy with gangly limbs sat beside a young man in a yellow sweater.

Phil stopped breathing.

The two figures pushed and shoved at each other, and though they were too far away for Phil to make out what they were saying, their shrieks and laughter rang out clearly across the open field.

Phil wanted to sprint back down the path, he wanted to see them up close, he wanted to tell them how much he loved them, but he was frozen in place, like he was in a trance. Judging by how still Techno stood, he was the same.

The figures, his sons, because who else could they be, turned for a moment and they must have spotted Phil and Techno where they stood on the rocky path and waved, large grins on both their faces.

It was then that the sun peeked over the horizon, illuminating the entire valley. It’s first rays were so blinding that Phil had to cover his eyes, and when he returned his gaze to the field, it was empty, save for a large oak tree and flowers of every variety.

**Author's Note:**

> I have fallen into a sbi shaped pit and I do not want to leave.


End file.
